In line with the Global Plant Council’s mission, and its priority focus on Knowledge, Data and Resources, we have initiated or support several projects to help develop, share and democratize access to plant science news, information and educational resources around the world.
Plantae
At a GPC AGM in 2014, members suggested that an online ‘plant knowledge hub’ would be a valuable resource for the global plant science community. Working with the American Society of Plant Biologists, a GPC Member Organization that also had the idea to create a ‘plant science exchange’ networking hub, the two ideas were combined to kick-start the development of a social media-cum-knowledge bank that is now known as Plantae.org.
Plantae, which is free for all plant scientists to use, centers around three ‘hubs’: Research, Careers, and Education, each of which provides open access to a database of community-curated content including plant science news, funding opportunities, jobs, abstracts, papers, meeting reports, methods and protocol, policy documents, education resources, and more. Plantae also provides a professional platform for plant scientists to promote their work, connect with other scientists from around the world, engage in discussions and join public or private special interest groups.
Translation of Education Resources
Acknowledging that many useful plant science resources are currently only available in the English language, the GPC is working with plant science educators and initiatives to coordinate the translation of these resources into other languages. As an example, transcripts of several free-to-access video lectures aimed at undergraduate biologists and available on the Gatsby Plant Science TREE platform have now been translated into Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
Knowledge Exchange Platform
Led by our president Professor Bill Davies, The GPC is currently exploring opportunities for the development of an online training program aimed at translating research from laboratory researchers to applied solutions in the field, especially in developing countries in Africa.
Communication and Outreach
Alongside Plantae and the GPC’s own website, the GPC is committed to curating and sharing plant science news, knowledge and opportunities to its members and the wider plant science community all across the globe.
Our Communications and Outreach team maintains a regularly updated source of news, events, and funding opportunities, policy documents and other useful resources here on this website. We also have a blog featuring regular articles from the GPC team, and guest posts from scientists around the world; Facebook and Twitter accounts (in English @GlobalPlantGPC and in Spanish at @GPC_EnEspanol); and a monthly e-Bulletin email newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.
